Boys of the new brigade bring pride to the jersey

There will be those who will quibble about the standard of the football, the amount of wides that Cork kicked and the obvious shortcomings in the Mayo kickout strategy, but for this writer the overall feeling on Saturday evening was one of pride at seeing a Mayo full-forward line deliver such a five-star display on the biggest stage of all. We wondered if Kobe McDonald and Darragh Beirne – still teenagers, let’s not forget – might be overawed on their first visit to Croke Park in a Mayo jersey, but youth has a wonderful way of making light of the things that weigh down their elders. Far from being overawed, they revelled in the wide-open spaces of this theatre of dreams.

Kobe McDonald’s remarkable year of firsts continued. Having scored with his first touch in a Mayo senior jersey against Monaghan in the National Football League, he had the ball over the bar with his first touch in Croke Park, having never played there at underage level. Darragh Beirne played for St Colman’s College in Claremorris in a Hogan Cup Final in GAA headquarters on St Patrick’s Day last year – a game where he excelled despite being starved of possession – so it was no surprise to see him delivering another top-class display this time around.

And what of Ryan O’Donoghue who has had to carry the scoring load for Mayo on so many occasions in recent years? He has been re-invigorated by the arrival of these two teenage tearaways and must have come close to pinching the Player of the Match award from Beirne.

The Mayo full-forward line scored 0-19 and there nearly was a late goal thrown in for good measure when Kobe McDonald set off on one of those characteristic searing runs through a tired Cork defence only to see his effort blocked. Later that evening, Kerry’s full-forward line of Paul and Dylan Geaney and David Clifford posted 1-19 between them in a thrilling encounter against Tyrone, so ultimately both games on Saturday were won by the more dangerous full-forward lines.

Of course, that is not to diminish the outstanding work of players in other positions, but we have known in Mayo, from long and bitter experience, that it is very hard to win the big games if you don’t have a potent full-forward line. Mayo managed to get in at half-time with the scores level despite conceding more possession to Cork in those opening 35 minutes. Obviously, the Rebels kicked far too many wides – nine in that first-half alone – but it was the Mayo full-forward line’s efficiency in front of goal that really turned the screw on Cork. That was especially the case in the second-half when Andy Moran’s men really punished Cork, scoring 14 points including 10 from the full-forward line.

This writer has been critical of Mayo at times over the past few weeks, especially our lack of consistency in games, but last Saturday was the most solid performance of Andy Moran’s brief time in charge. It was certainly Mayo’s best display defensively and we were unrecognisable in the first-half from the team that allowed Meath the freedom of MacHale Park for the opening 25 minutes of the previous game. This game was a bit more like Mayo’s encounter with Tyrone in Healy Park whereas the Meath match was like the clash against Monaghan when we gave up a plethora of goal chances.

Although the defensive frailties of the Meath game were not in evidence in Croke Park, Mayo still struggled to get their hands on the ball in the opening quarter, and Cork were left to rue one missed shot after another, kicking three successive wides between the fifth and eighth minutes alone. Jack Livingstone also had to make a sharp save in the fifth minute after Chris Óg Jones got on the end of a defence-splitting move but couldn’t get enough power on his shot.

The first-half was dull, if truth be told, and the game seemed to struggle to spark to life with only the occasional flashes of brilliance from Stephen Sherlock (a brilliant point in the 22nd minute) and Kobe McDonald (a two-pointer that was plucked straight from his father’s highlights reel). McDonald’s magnificent long-distance effort was a perfect illustration of the way the two-pointer can alter momentum in the modern game. Only a minute earlier, Cork’s Tommy Walsh had an opportunity to put Cork 0-8 to 0-4 ahead, but spurned the chance, and when McDonald’s two-pointer was quickly followed by a point from Ryan O’Donoghue, the scores were level. In literally two minutes, Cork had gone from being on the cusp of a four-point lead to ending up back on level terms – and it had happened without them conceding a goal.

The most impressive aspect of Mayo’s defensive display was the complete shutdown of Cork’s two-point shooters, who had been such a big part of the Rebels’ progression to this stage of the competition. Donnacha McHugh had a superb game on Stephen Sherlock, refusing to give him the space he needed to work his magic, which meant Cork then had to find other shooters, several of whom couldn’t get their efforts on target. It was McHugh’s best display since last year’s clash against Donegal when he was playing a stormer against Michael Murphy before being forced off with injury.

Of course, there is a much tougher test ahead for the Mayo defence in the semi-final – and the bigger the stakes, the more the pressure – but last Saturday evening was encouraging and it shows that improvements have been made in the months since that disastrous outing in MacHale Park against Roscommon. Obviously, the unearthing of a new goalkeeper in Jack Livingstone has been a huge boost to Andy Moran and the Breaffy man’s shot-stopping is the best in the championship to date. His left-handed flying save to deny Brian O’Driscoll in the 63rd minute was as good as anything you’d see in the World Cup, and it was a match-winning moment for Mayo because a goal at that stage would have tied the scores, 1-17 to 0-20. Instead, Mayo went up the other end and Ryan O’Donoghue kicked a point to put four between the teams, which left Cork really chasing the game for the remaining minutes.

We’ll worry about semi-finals next week – unusually in this condensed championship we have two whole weeks in which to catch our breath – but the prevailing mood must be one of delight that we have reached the last four of a competition where favourites like Donegal and Armagh have failed to get to the last eight. People may point to the vagaries of the draw, but you still have to beat the teams in front of you and Mayo have certainly improved as the season has gone on, and the management also appears willing to correct mistakes as opposed to persisting with bad selection decisions even when it is patently obvious that it is costing the team dearly.

It is a bit early yet to be judging Andy Moran’s first season in charge, but the manager deserves a lot of credit for giving youth its fling. Perhaps there has been an element of needs-must in his strategy – and certainly the selection of Livingstone would fall into that category – but he has clearly given his attacking players a licence to play with a freedom that would have been impossible under the old rules. Mayo’s strategy of isolating their full-forward line and playing quick ball into the wide open spaces in front of them was hugely encouraging and suggests that management intends to make the most of the pace that Mayo now has in front of goal, as well as off the bench in the form of a rejuvenated Tommy Conroy. It is worth noting too that Cian McHale, who played so well against Meath, didn’t even feature last Saturday and is certainly another player who knows how to take a score.

A football pundit once said that you will win nothing with kids (before spectacularly eating his words at the end of the season) so we will reserve our judgement on Mayo’s prospects in the remainder of the championship. However, if last Saturday proved anything it is that you will win a lot of games with a potent full-forward line – even games where you struggle to dominate possession. How many times have we been on the receiving end of beatings that came from our inability to take scores and the opposition’s ability to make the most of their limited opportunities? It felt good to finally have the shoe on the other foot last Saturday evening.